EVERY CHRISTIAN MUST LEARN FROM JESUS’ PREPARATION FOR MINISTRY (2)

By James Quansah, Pastor

IN THE Part One, we learnt how Jesus Christ was prepared in the Word of God and humility. In the Part Two, which is very short, we wish to discuss the coming of the Holy Spirit on Jesus Christ as part of His preparation for ministry.

Jesus received the Spirit of God without measure. The Spirit of God came upon Him after He had been baptised by John in the River Jordan. But it is enough to state that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus Christ. John the Baptist made it clear that he saw the Spirit remain on Jesus. Let us pay attention to the words “remain on Him”.

This means that Jesus would not indulge in sins to grieve the Holy Spirit or cause the Spirit to leave Him. Righteousness, holiness, forgiveness and living a life of love and faith are important qualities for the continuous presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a minister of God.

This is evident in the life of Jesus even during His temptation. The Bible tells us that immediately after the baptism of Christ Jesus, He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil after fasting for forty days and forty nights.     

We know how the devil tried to get Jesus Christ to sin the way he did to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but he failed. There is no doubt that the temptation of Jesus Christ was allowed by God the Father as part of His preparation for His public ministry.

Our Lord was not tempted for nothing. It was for a purpose. Remember that when God allows trials or temptations in the lives of His children, it is for their good; it is for building them up spiritually for greater supernatural works. And we know what happened to Jesus Christ after the temptation.

“And Jesus RETURNED IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country” (Luke 4: 14).

The presence of God in Him and upon Him through the Word and the Spirit was without measure. Soon after the temptation, Jesus began His public ministry. He went to a synagogue in Nazareth, His hometown, and declared: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” (Luke 4: 18).

Again in Acts 10: 38, it is written: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power…” The Holy Spirit and the Word with measureless power in the man Jesus was God in Him.

In Colossians 1:19, the Paul, the apostle, said the fullness of God dwelt in Christ Jesus. And in John 10:28, Jesus Christ declared that God the Father was in Him, making Him God/man for His earthly ministry.

All these point to the fact that Jesus was adequately prepared for ministry. And each one of His ministers must avail themselves to be sufficiently prepared before beginning any public ministry. Luke writes that, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40).  

James Quansah is the Executive Director of Christ-Conscious Leadership Centre (CLC) and lead Pastor of End-Time Christ’s Commissioners (ECC), Kumasi, Ghana. James is also a journalist by profession. He is married with four children.